Electric Car Progress

[BD240Z]

Looks like they're making some decent progress with the electric vehicles, the performance numbers on this one is impressive. The price is too steep for me but I expect the technology to trickle down to the everyday car. I'd love to see us less dependant on foreign oil.

For electric sports cars, I hope they develop some sort of man made exhaust noise system. One that makes a nice snarl when getting on it rather than the quiet response.

http://autos.msn.com/as/minishow/article.aspx?contentID=4024172&s=Pebble2006

Bruce

[veritech-z]

You really want a recording of exhaust noise to play when you hit the accelerator? Would it play inside the car for your benifit, or outside for everybody else? The reason exhaust sounds good is because it has become associated with the sound of high performance in internal combustion engines. A hot rod electric car would sound like a drill or maybe a supercharger (or a normal gas car in reverse?), so eventually that would give people the same response as a contemporary car with exhaust does now (assuming that really does become the technology of the future car). I would cry if my car was equipped with an audio track...would it have fake blow off valve noises and stuff too? I think I'd change mine to a laugh track from a sitcom...that way every time I hit the gas it would be like a live studio audience laughing at Bob Sagat's jokes.

[Walter Moore]

Now this looks like an interesting electric car...

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/view/56-Electric-Drag-Racing

[DeesZ]

A very interesting video, Walter, and a Datsun, too! Thanks for sharing.

[Carl Beck]

I'd love to see us less dependant on foreign oil.

Dependent on foreign oil???? Not to worry Bruce.

That's just what we tell the suppliers in other countries because we don't want to tell them that we'd rather have their ground, air and environment spoiled than ours.

Dependent on foreign oil????

That's just what we tell the boobs in America, because we don't want to tell them that the ruling class has decided to siphon off the extreme wealth of a massively productive society (ours) and send it to the poor Arab's and other third world countries. Lets face it - oil is all they have that is of any value and it's easy for us to all but steal it.

Dependent on foreign oil????

That's just what we tell the boobs in other countries - the reality is that we have decided to use all their oil first and keep ours for the time that we either can't get theirs, or they have none left to sell.

Dependent on foreign oil????

How can a country with the massive and untapped oil reserves we are sitting on really be "dependent" on foreign oil? The truth is we have simply made the decision not to use our oil at the present time. That might make us greedy, stupid, or simply suckers that let the government take 56% of every thing we earn - but it doesn't make us dependent.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[mikewags]

Interesting concept Carl...eat up all of the Middle East's oil (their only real valuable export) and then once they are out and broke; we tap into our own.

[1 Bravo 6]

Yair, right,

Then they'll come and get it.

Rick.

[doradox]

The problem I see is that the Arabs take all those petro dollars and buy into our companies. By the time the oil is gone they'll be able to sit back and watch us continue to work for them. We need to render the oil worthless before that happens. at 40 bucks a barrel there's not much incentive to do so though.

Steve

[Carl Beck]

Hi Steve:

It's simple actually. We just pass a federal law that allows drilling within the areas controlled by the USA, to companies that extract, refine and sell the retail products only in the USA. Canada and Meixco can of course buy the retail products here and ship it home. To keep the retail prices down here, we might allow the new oil companies to export say 5% of their production to the world market when oil prices on the world market are at least 3x the domestic supply.

Given that set of conditions - it would be easy to raise the necessary investment capital and form the needed corporations.

At any rate isn't it funny that when the US starts to sing "Drill Baby Drill" - - to price of oil on the world market drops to 33% of what it was, even though demand is down only 7%... .hummm.... Same thing happened in 73/74 with the oil shortage hit...

When the unemployment rate hits 10% to 14% - people usually wake up and quite being suckers.

FWIW,

Carl B.

[biddljj]

The first review I read about the Tesla sports car was written by a guy who had

6 sports cars in the garage....... Porsche.... Corvette.... Datsun 240Z

The author's main complaint was lack of gear noise / shifting during acceleration. The Tesla sports car also has 18 pieces in the "Engine". But... when you nail the gas peddle it buries you in the seat.... An oh how the car stuck to the turns....100K

It seem to me that the Government should be rewarding technology like Tesla...

Jay

Not just a Z - zdisease

[Caen Fred]

We're a lot into "electrique" over here to tame the ecologists. Which is funny, the way I see it, it's like the old story of the Shaman pointing the moon and the fool looking at it's finger.

An electric car is an NUCLEAR powered car in France:surprised The car is using electricity, OK, but how do you produce electricity

[doradox]

Hi Steve:

It's simple actually. We just pass a federal law that allows drilling within the areas controlled by the USA, to companies that extract, refine and sell the retail products only in the USA. Canada and Meixco can of course buy the retail products here and ship it home. To keep the retail prices down here, we might allow the new oil companies to export say 5% of their production to the world market when oil prices on the world market are at least 3x the domestic supply.

Given that set of conditions - it would be easy to raise the necessary investment capital and form the needed corporations.

At any rate isn't it funny that when the US starts to sing "Drill Baby Drill" - - to price of oil on the world market drops to 33% of what it was, even though demand is down only 7%... .hummm.... Same thing happened in 73/74 with the oil shortage hit...

When the unemployment rate hits 10% to 14% - people usually wake up and quite being suckers.

FWIW,

Carl B.

Well maybe that would work to some extent. The Greens would be screaming bloody murder but who cares.

It wasn't really all that funny that the price skyrocketed into the 150 range as every producer was selling every drop they could pump regardless of how high the price went. The supply can't easely rise with demand. so why would you drop yor price? Two reasons, when we chanted drill baby drill the speculators got nervous and seeing the huge investments being made on alternatives did the same to speculators and producers alike. I predicted that as soon as we got serious or even hinted at getting serious about increasing supply the price would drop. If it were rumored that some guy had 20 pristine series one cars he was going to sell soon don't you think the price for a car currently for sale would drop. If I were buying I'd pull out of bidding until I saw what was coming. As to the second, history has shown time and again that when the solution to a problem is required and that solution can make you filthy rich people will be throwing resources at the problem like there is no tomorrow. At 150 a barrel that was the case, at 40 now not so much. The oil producers know that a replacement will destroy their livelihood and understand how the market works.

Part of the "shortage" in the 70s was caused by goverment price controls after the embargo started. There was no price pressure to bring on new supply so we saw what price controls always bring, shortages.

Steve